This invention relates generally to a child's sipper cup. In particular, the present invention relates to a self-righting and spill-minimizing sipper cup that includes features of both a cup and a straw.
The traditional sipper cup is used to teach children to drink from a cup on their own, minimizing the spills through a small sipping spout. Nevertheless, as children have learned to drink and eat on their own, accidents and messes have proven inevitable.
It is important to keep liquid at the bottom of the cup's interior because this helps maintain the cup's low center of gravity. If this is not done, the weight of the liquid will increase the weight of the cup's sidewalls when the cup is tipped, allowing the cup to continue or accelerate its motion of falling to its side.
Various proposals for self-righting cups are found in the art. Self-righting cups with rounded bottoms can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,170, U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,996, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,737, U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,018, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,992. None of these include either a base portion wider than an upper portion or a double-wall construction, however. Further, none of these proposals suggest incorporating a straw-like device into a child's sipper cup. In fact, U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,992 expressly teaches away from adding a straw-like feature, claiming a spout encourages children to develop improper drinking techniques. Likewise, none of these suggest including a float device to keep liquid in the bottom of the cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,141 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,995 disclose spill-resistant cups with base portions wider than upper portions and double-wall constructions. However, neither cup is self-righting and neither suggests adding a straw-like feature or a float device to keep liquid in the bottom of the cup.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a self-righting and spill-minimizing sipper cup that includes features of both a cup and a straw, keeps liquid in the cup at the bottom of the cup's interior, maintains the temperature of liquid contained in the cup, is lightweight, easy for a child to hold, easy to clean, and aesthetically pleasing.